Rise of Rurik

The so-called tattoo is to permanently penetrate the ink into the skin to create complex patterns to achieve the purpose.

Blackbird felt very uneasy. She had made up her mind and knew what she was doing.

In the dim room, the old woman who was said to be a tattoo artist even had a large number of tattoos on her face. Undoubtedly, this is the golden signature of this woman, which makes people who meet her not only understand her work, but also praise her craftsmanship.

"It's really strange. You are too young. Girls of this age usually don't accept tattoos. But since you are Lord Blue Fox, I probably understand." The old woman said to herself, her Norse language The blackbird was confused after hearing this.

The old woman then ordered: "Your request is a bit strange, but I will satisfy it. Now take off your shirt and lie down on this leather mat. Don't worry, I am the only old woman here..."

Blackbird basically understood it, so she closed her eyes and made a mental note and obeyed.

She had just laid down when suddenly a wooden stick hit the side of her face.

"What's wrong?"

As soon as she turned around, she saw the woman giving mechanical instructions: "It will hurt a little. Bite this stick to prevent you from biting off your tongue."

"Huh? It hurts so much?!" For a moment, fear intensified the tension, and big beads of sweat suddenly oozed out.

"It doesn't hurt very much. This is your own choice, and you shouldn't disobey Lord Blue Fox's orders. Let's get started quickly! You still have to serve Lord."

Under the cover of night, and Blackbird dressed up in disguise, Blue Fox was very strict and just lied that she was his "beloved little maid". The tattoo artist had no idea that the girl came from the Great Temple and seemed to be just a maid.

That’s all

If she had learned her current identity as a priestess, even getting a tattoo would not be as rude as it is now.

"Then let's get started." Blackbird said the last thing and took the stick in his mouth...

At first, she used a quill dipped in ink to draw a sketch on the skin just below Blackbird's neck. This process was a little itchy, making her smile while suppressing a commotion. However, as the steel needle dipped in blue ink and stabbed down, She couldn't laugh anymore.

After an unknown amount of time, Blackbird, who had been enduring the needle pricks, became passively excited due to the intense tension. Her whole body was as tight as a piece of wood. It would be nice if I were really a piece of wood, and I would avoid the pain of being pricked by thousands of needles.

On his neck, a large rune "Guardian of Life" with a radius of about ten centimeters appeared.

This wasn't enough, her hands were tattooed with the same runes, and then with her eyes closed, a line of rune words "Odin bless me" was tattooed on her hairline.

The area where the needle pricked quickly became red and swollen and raised into a small mound. Now the blackbird has to endure the slippery stinging sensation from its back, forehead and hands.

The ink has penetrated deep into the dermis, and the tattoo is from woad ink. It is not visible yet, but I believe everything will be clear after the redness and swelling subside.

Now, by the oil lamp, the blackbird stretched out his hands and looked directly at the back of his hands.

She did not feel the happiness after success, nor did she smile. Because she understood that what she did today was the real break with the past, and just like that, she finally completed the petition.

"Are you feeling okay?" Seeing his woman again, Blackbird's face was obviously haggard.

in the dark outdoors

, Lan Hu couldn't see her results clearly, and could only see the swelling of her hands with the help of the moonlight.

"I'm tired. Where should I go next? To the Great Temple?"

"No." Blue Fox shook his head, "Send you back to Prince Ross. King Ross will be waiting for you, and so will Verika."

"That's fine." Blackbird's tone was calm and haggard, "This way King Ross will be satisfied. I... am also qualified to go to Frank again. You, Uncle Blue Fox."

"Um?"

"Promise me one thing." She leaned on her fiancé's thick waist, and her haggard appearance aroused a strong desire for protection: "If you see my father's army, your people will not show mercy."

"Mercy on the battlefield is mostly cruelty to oneself, and I will never be like that. But why do you say this?"

"I will be your woman, the Countess of Gothenburg. I want to see real blood flow, so that I will become a Valkyrie. There is nothing to worry about. In the end, I will be the same as those who have passed away. Return to Asgard."

To Blue Fox, she seemed a little crazy, so he shook Blackbird's shoulders and said, "You're just too sleepy. Take a rest quickly. I hope the swelling will subside tomorrow."

Because the excellent Ross tattooists have completed technological upgrades, they have well-polished steel needles that are sterilized in spirits as they work. As a result, the risk of infection in tattoos has been greatly reduced, and the use of thin steel needles has also allowed tattoo enthusiasts in the Kingdom to begin to have more and more complex tattoo patterns.

Rurik, the high priest Rumia, and their eldest daughter Verika, the three of them rarely enjoyed a family sleep.

A family sleeps together, Willie

Ka no longer cared about the differences between men and women due to her age. She hugged her father's arm and fell asleep without letting go.

Until the blackbird suddenly arrives in the middle of the night.

"Has it been a long time?" Rurik rubbed his sleepy eyes vigorously, and then asked his wife and daughter to change their clothes and go see how the blackbird was doing.

A girl with disheveled hair stood on the empty second floor of the palace, where Rurik, Rumia, Verica and Blue Fox stood.

The round-faced old fox said respectfully: "She has finished."

"I hope so. Gisla! Let me see your results." Rurik looked down at the stubborn girl and ordered sternly.

The backs of both hands were shown in front of Rurik. The still red and swollen lines indeed had the "Guardian of Life" pattern. Then Rurik rolled up his sleeves and showed the tattoo on his right arm and shoulder, solemnly showing it to the girl.

"Look, the Pattern of Life Protection is extraordinary. Now that you have the same pattern as me, the gods will give you strength. You did a great job!" At this point, Rurik smiled and gave the blue fox a He looked at Blackbird's peaceful and slightly sad face: "Although this is the first day that the king meets you, now I recognize your noble status. Countess Blackbird Theresa of Gothenburg. As for Ji Silla, she is dead!”

After hearing the last words, Blackbird's calm face finally showed ripples, and tears could not help but squeeze out of the corners of his eyes.

She gradually began to cry. Seeing this, Verica, who was happy for her, walked straight over, hugged her good sister deeply in her arms, and whispered softly in her ear: "Good sister, now we really We are a family..."

The family members of great nobles are basically equal to political tools in today's era. This is the case for "Roman Emperor" Lothair. His daughters are actual and potential "marriage tools." If they are unable to unite with their relatives and their daughters get older, She will be sent to a monastery to hide in the snow. Even if her daughter dies alone, she will not benefit others in the end.

Even if Blackbird arrives in Ross, she still cannot escape the fate of the tool man. She was lucky, and her special bloodline made it impossible for the northern nobles to ignore this great-granddaughter of Charlemagne.

Faced with such a woman, if she was old enough, Rurik thought there would be nothing wrong with accepting her as his concubine. However, she is too young and the girl herself loves Lan Hu, so she might as well be a favor and approve the marriage.

Blackbird is not a member of the royal family at all and should not have the right to stay in the palace.

Rurik was willing to make a special case for her, and the realization of the special case required further concessions from Blackbird.

Charlemagne was a "giant" who once made the entire Danish world tremble. The entire northern world knew the reputation of this conqueror - perhaps if he had been given a longer life, the Frankish army would have wiped out Denmark and conquered Scandinavia. Odin's faith was immediately surrendered to God through violent conquest.

But Charlemagne died, and only a few Russian nobles, including Rurik, knew what Charlemagne's great empire had become. Because most princes and their sons have inheritance rights to varying degrees, there is no situation in the empire where one mountaintop can immediately overwhelm another. The top nobles are wrestling with each other, and the local nobles have their own agendas. The civil war has already begun.

Entering its fourth year.

This is very different from the Frankish Civil War that Rurik knew. No matter how you think about the current situation, the civil war will not end in 843.

The legendary Battle of Fontanoy, which defeated the main army of the three princes, has not yet appeared or will never appear. Instead, it may be a battle that took place in Alsace (Rhine Valley). But could that battle happen?

There is also Bald Charlie. Charlie in this time and space seems to be too low-key.

Maybe Lothair and Ludwig are still in a military confrontation in Alsace.

Ross's interference in the past few years has caused huge changes. Now even a princess with direct bloodline from Charlemagne has been kidnapped to the north and forced to convert to Odin. Isn't this a huge victory?

Maybe she herself is nothing, but her Charlemagne bloodline has great power invisibly.

Rurik thought that if he could control this power, he could not only further strengthen his authority, but also find new weapons to interfere with the Frankish world in the future.

What if it is impossible to marry her as a concubine and adopt her as an adopted daughter? There must be operability in this regard.

Blackbird opened his bangs in front of Rurik, revealing a red swelling at the hairline on the top of his forehead. Take a closer look, what is that if it's not words?

"You...really did it?" Rurik asked in surprise.

"As you asked, I did it. If the king asks, I can cut off the hair on my forehead so that everyone can see that I am Odin's servant."

There is a hint of stubbornness in Blackbird's words, and he seems to be implying, "I'm already like this, you should give me a higher status."

I didn't expect her words that seemed like a joke

It all became a reality in an instant, because High Priest Rumia maintained a high degree of vigilance. She personally checked Blackbird's back and found the red and swollen tattoo.

Rurik then brought a chair and asked his family to light all the oil lamps in the room.

Rumia did this and pulled her daughter Verika out to sit on a chair. The two of them didn't know what Rurik meant and had to watch quietly.

At the same time, Blue Fox was wise enough to stand aside. It was a great honor for him as a subject to enter the palace of King Rus. Now, just by watching what happens next, he surpassed the governor of the capital - almost no non-royal nobles could. Pry into the private affairs of the Rurik family.

However, as things develop next, Lan Hu increasingly feels that this is directly related to him.

Rurik crossed his legs, put his right elbow on his knee, and supported his chin with his wrist and palm.

He seemed to be admiring the blackbird, which stood still.

The girl felt extremely uncomfortable being watched by King Ross in this way. She didn't know what trouble would happen next. She had done her best to comply with King Ross's request and submitted a petition. It would never be as she saw. That tattoo artist usually tattoos his face too, right?

Rurik had been asleep for a while to regain his energy. He stared at the blackbird's face, trying to find the similarity in face with the Ludwig he knew, in order to estimate Charlemagne's appearance when he was in his prime. face.

Blackbird and his uncle probably have two things in common: curly hair and brownish-yellow and darker hair color.

"very good……"

Rurik kept mumbling to himself, not daring to

Blackbird, who looked directly into his eyes, did not dare to ask why now, even though she felt like she was being judged like a deer or a sheep, and the mental harassment made her already embarrassed spirit worse.

She finally couldn't hold it any longer: "Great... King Ross. I'm a little tired."

"Sleepy? By the way." Rurik sat upright suddenly: "You have been running around all day and never had a good rest. Don't worry, it will be over after you finish the next thing."

"What is it?" Blackbird finally raised his head.

"A good thing. Be my adopted daughter!"

The words immediately caused an uproar. The blue fox's eyes almost burst out of shock, and the high priest Rumia burst into tears.

Blackbird also widened his eyes: "King Ross, what did you... say?!"

"I have already thought about it. This is not a sudden idea. Your father, King Lothair, does not love you, but I, the noble one, am willing to be your adoptive father. You will be my adopted daughter, and you will be as noble as my biological daughter Verika. .Be my adopted daughter, and the high priest will be your adoptive mother. You and Verika are sisters in law, and the master-servant relationship between you two ends here.

You are a princess of the kingdom in Aachen, and you should be a princess of the kingdom in my Neurosberg.

You will continue to do priestly work as the daughter of my king. When you are at least sixteen years old, I will serve as a witness to see you become the Countess of Gothenburg.

Blackbird, you are a smart boy. What do you think of being the daughter of the King of Rus? "

Blackbird Theresa, from day to night, everything that happened today was too bizarre and magical, as if more than ten years had been compressed into one

Day and night.

The concept of adopted son or adopted daughter is not uncommon in Frank.

Based on the "Salic Succession Law" formulated by Charlemagne, although some nobles will be at risk of extinction because they have no direct male heirs, if there is a risk of extermination, sons-in-law and nephews can enjoy inheritance rights. If an old noble does not want to have a daughter, and does not want to give his power and status to the children of relatives after his death, then he adopts an adopted son early and finally gives the power to him. The "Succession Law" does not prohibit this situation, which is a tacit consent. It's legal.

As for the power struggle between the branch nobles thus created, this is not what Charlemagne himself has to consider.

Throughout his life, Charlemagne was worried about the internal strife among the branch nobles. The "Law of Succession" was promulgated to prevent the royal family from killing each other again. However, this beast of power fell into the hands of the unruly young nobles. , they are fighting for the power of the "Roman Emperor".

Blackbird lived in Aachen and was neither deaf nor blind. When she found out that her sister had been kidnapped and forcibly married, she estimated that she had either been kidnapped or given as a gift to every noble noble as a wife.

It can be said that Blackbird had long expected to be unkind to others, but she never expected that her abductor would be a Norman nobleman with flexible beliefs.

Deep down she had to compare King Ross with her biological father.

They are both kings, and it is obvious that King Ross's behavior today is very humane - he allows his own daughter to act like a cat, and even enjoys it.

Faced with the problem raised by King Rus, Blackbird realized that he had to endure the embarrassment and make a decision.

She pursed her lips and said:

"I do! I want to be your daughter."

"Choose wisely, I think we need a little ceremony. Now! Kneel down."

So, the blackbird kneeled down on one knee reflexively.

"No. Kneel down on the other leg too, and crawl in front of me on your knees."

"yes."

Blackbird was not ashamed of her behavior. She did not understand what King Ross meant.

In fact, Rurik didn't know how to deal with it most correctly. After all, accepting this adopted daughter was also based on political considerations. Because Blue Fox has made great achievements and will continue to make great achievements, adding a Countess with Charlemagne blood to his Gothenburg County will be even more powerful.

This country was sealed by himself, and Rurik could not have imagined that it would develop into this state. As a king, you cannot be careless and use rough means to strip away some of the power of the blue fox. Perhaps you should install a new "bridle" for him to strengthen control.

For example, if you sell your daughter to him, Lan Hu becomes a son-in-law and becomes a kind of foreign relative. That is an extra layer of insurance compared to a simple unrelated noble. If there is no suitable daughter, it is also possible to make an adopted daughter and then marry him.

Because in the northern world, adopted sons and daughters have almost the same status as blood children. If a friend dies, it is considered normal to take in the widow or adopt the orphan.

Since Blackbird joins Ross wholeheartedly, he must fully accept the northern culture represented by Ross.

She knelt down next to Rurik, and a big hand immediately covered her heavenly spirit cap.

Rurik could grab her head entirely with one hand, and this "head-touching killing" was simply interpreted as a ritual. He muttered: "I got Odin's blessing.

Fu, now I caress your head, and the blessings from God will also be passed on to you. Let's see! Your tattoo is red and swollen, and the power of God is flowing into your body. Now, that is my adopted daughter..."

Although the blackbird heard this "prayer" in Norse with some indifference, was it a ritual?

The ceremony is not over.

According to Eastern etiquette, Ryuri ordered the girl to make a final bow to him, ending everything with a kowtow ceremony.

This was more profound than the hand-kissing ceremony in the Frankish court. The Blackbird who did so felt that she had completely surrendered to a more powerful existence through practical actions and became his daughter.

"Good, now you can call me father. Blackbird, that's your privilege."

Blackbird, who was still kneeling on her knees, raised her body and looked at Rurik with trembling eyes. She hesitated for a moment before calling her father to a man she had only known for a day and who looked very young. Blackbird asked. Resolutely cross the chasm deep in your heart.

She finally made the leap to success.

"Father." She used a very formal word.

"Okay. However, I would rather you call me Papa."

"Yes. Papa."

So, in the early morning, she was still the personal servant of Verika, the deputy priest of the great temple. By late night, she transformed into the adopted daughter of the king, and her status was theoretically equivalent to that of Verika.

How could this be possible if it weren't for her Charlemagne blood?

Blackbird knew this very well, so he continued to remain calm. He knelt down and moved directly in front of the high priest Rumia, and calmly called the high priest Mama.

If she were not a daughter, how could she have the right to use intimacy?

Address your parents by title.

Rumia was speechless. She still felt that this was Rurik's whim. But Rurik is the king, and things have been decided and he cannot change them. In desperation, he had no choice but to accept such an adopted daughter, who was also his first and probably last adopted daughter.

Some people are worried, while others are in a state of excitement.

Verica, who has always lacked true friends, has regarded her so-called maid Blackbird as a sister half a year ago. She does not want the master and servant to be confused between them. She is a princess, and she is also a princess. A down-and-out The princess is still noble.

Finally, it was his beloved father who gave the blackbird a new and magical title.

Verika once again hugged Blackbird, who was actually two years older than her but a little shorter than her. She was so happy that she lost all sleep: "Haha, now we are real sisters."